On writing: poetry and prose

Guest Post by author Jane Sutton

Here is a guest post by author Jane Sutton. Jane has had several articles published and has won a couple of short story contests. Her first novel, The Ride, received an honorable mention for best first chapter of a novel. Her second novel, Reigning Cats and Dogs, (due to be released later this year) was a finalist in the 2009 Royal Palm Literary Contest.
Jane lives in Florida where she’s an active member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association and the Florida Writers Association. When taking a break from writing, she enjoys walks along the beach or in the park, bicycling, kayaking and playing with her grandson.
The Ride is available in hardcover or on Kindle on Amazon.com . http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Jane-Kennedy-Sutton/dp/1595071938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233850866&sr=1-1. It is also available through other online bookstores or can be ordered by your favorite brick and mortar store.
To find out more, please visit her blog http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/ or her web page http://janesutton.com/.

Helpful Assets for Writers
It’s not enough to simply be a writer these days. Authors must develop certain skills and traits in order to be able to survive to write another day. Here’s my list of what I think every writer needs.
10. A basic understanding of grammar and punctuation
9. Patience, patience, and more patience for nothing happens quickly in the publishing world
8. The tenacity to edit your work several more times after thinking you’d rather die than to have to read your entire manuscript again
7. The strength to delete a paragraph (page or chapter) that you spent the last eight hours perfecting after realizing it has nothing to do with the idea you were hoping to convey
6. The ability to grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros or thicker in order to handle rejection notices or not so glowing reviews
5. The self-discipline to sit down and write or rewrite daily, even during those periods when playing solitaire might seem a bit more productive
4. To keep your publisher happy, you must be able to focus on writing the next book, while trying to arrange signings, interviews and other innovative marketing techniques for your currently available book(s)
3. The skill to set up and maintain a presence on dozens of social media sites—which also means you must be able to express yourself in 140 characters or less.
2. The knack of retaining all the passwords and log-in info for the numerous sites and forums you’ve joined
And the number one thing a writer must possess:
1. The ability to cram at least 48 hours’ worth of writing, marketing, blogging, reading and networking into a 24-hour day and still have a life
What assets would you add to this list?

Tomorrow: Next on the VBT tour, visit Dianne Sagan when she features author Marietta Taylor

Jane, that is the perfect list of assets. I love number 8! By that last edit, I do think I’d rather die than read my own words again. Number 1 made me laugh because that is absolutely the number one complaint I hear from all our fellow authors. How do we possibly find time to write when all the marketing and promoting is a full-time job in itself? A friend and I have decided that we need to clone ourselves.

I can’t wait for Reigning Cats and Dogs to come out! And anyone who hasn’t read The Ride yet needs to do so!

Great tips, Jane. And, #1 is the trickiest of all. Janet’s addition to the list is a good one also.

What I would add for freelance writers doing ghostwriting, editing, or copywriting is to know your writing value, and be careful before quoting prices -take into account all the little time and effort elements that take place during this type of work.

I have an addition to #6 – not only must a writer have a thick skin, you need to have some sort of ego. You have to love your work, and be able to toot your own horn, in order to get the recognition you deserve!